The present invention is directed to improved methods of treating inflammatory skin disease.
Inflammatory skin disease, particularly chronic inflammatory skin disease, is still a major source of morbidity. Such inflammatory skin diseases are disfiguring and cause severe physical and psychological harm to patients, disrupting their quality of life substantially. Such diseases include decubitus ulcers, pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers, Epidermolysis bullosa, and milia. Such skin diseases tend to be chronic and difficult to treat, particularly in patients with poor circulation or other underlying disease states.
Among the most difficult of these diseases to treat is Epidermolysis bullosa. Epidermolysis bullosa occurs in newborns and infants and causes severe inflammation, blistering, and scarring.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method of treating these inflammatory skin diseases. Such a method should be effective in a wide variety of skin diseases, and should be suitable for use together with other treatment modalities. It should be well tolerated by the patients without side effects. This is particularly important because many of these diseases have an underlying allergic component that makes their treatment difficult and may prevent the use of a number of previously known agents.
An improved method of treating such skin diseases comprises applying to the skin of a patient suffering such a skin disease an allantoin-containing composition in a therapeutically effective quantity.
In one embodiment of the invention, the allantoin-containing composition comprises an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin;
(2) an emulsifier system including:
(a) beeswax; and
(b) an anionic emulsifier that is substantially hydrophilic and is soluble in water, the pH of the composition being from about 4.5 to about 5.8 after the addition of acid to bring the pH to a value within the range of from about 4.5 to about 5.8.
The emulsifier can be selected from the group consisting of ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium oleyl succinate, ammonium lauryl sulfosuccinate, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, ammonium laureth sulfate, and sodium lauryl sarcosinate. Preferably, the emulsifier is sodium lauryl sulfate.
In another embodiment, the allantoin-containing composition comprises an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin;
(2) an emollient component comprising:
(a) lanolin oil;
(b) cetyl alcohol;
(c) stearyl alcohol; and
(d) cod liver oil;
(3) butylated hydroxytoluene;
(4) an emulsifier system comprising at least one nonionic emulsifier that is an ethoxylated ether or an ethoxylated ester whose carbon chain length ranges from 8 to 22 carbon atoms; and
(5) at least one acid selected from the group consisting of:
(a) an organic acid of from 2 to 22 carbon atoms; and
(b) an inorganic acid selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and phosphoric acid to adjust the pH from about 4.5 to about 5.8.
In yet another embodiment, the allantoin-containing composition comprises an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin;
(2) an emulsifier system including at least one nonionic emulsifier that is an ethoxylated ether or an ethoxylated ester whose carbon chain length ranges from 8 to 22 carbon atoms, the pH of the emulsion being from about 4.5 to about 5.8 after the addition of acid to bring the pH to a value within the range of from about 4.5 to about 5.8.
In still another embodiment, the allantoin-containing composition comprises an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin; and
(2) an emulsifier system comprising:
(a) an acidic anionic polymer; and
(b) a polyethylene glycol ester of stearic acid.
The pH of the composition is adjusted to a value within a range of from about 5.0 to about 6.5.
The composition can further comprise a carbohydrate polymer selected from the group consisting of galactoarabinan, polygalactose, and polyarabinose; preferably, the carbohydrate polymer is galactoarabinan.
In yet another alternative embodiment, the allantoin-containing composition comprises an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin; and
(2) an emulsifier system comprising:
(a) an acidic anionic polymer; and
(b) an anionic emulsifier that is substantially hydrophilic and is soluble in water.
The pH of the composition is adjusted to a value in a range from about 5.0 to about 6.5.
The anionic emulsifier can be selected from the group consisting of sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium oleyl succinate, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate and sodium lauryl sarcosinate. Preferably, the anionic emulsifier is sodium lauryl sulfate.
Typically, the acidic anionic polymer is carboxypolymethylene.
Preferably, in this embodiment, the composition further comprises a carbohydrate polymer selected from the group consisting of galactoarabinan, polygalactose, and polyarabinose. More preferably, the carbohydrate polymer is galactoarabinan.
In yet another alternative, the allantoin-containing composition comprises an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin; and
(2) an emulsifier system comprising:
(a) an acidic anionic polymer; and
(b) a nonionic emulsifier that is an ethoxylated ether or an ethoxylated ester whose carbon chain length ranges from 8 to 22 carbon atoms, wherein the pH of the composition is from about 5.0 to about 6.5.
The acidic anionic polymer is preferably carboxypolymethylene as described above.
Preferably, in this embodiment as well, the composition further comprises a carbohydrate polymer selected from the group consisting of galactoarabinan, polygalactose and polyarabinose. More preferably, the carbohydrate polymer is galactoarabinan.
In this embodiment, the emulsifier system can further comprise glyceryl stearate.
In yet another embodiment of a method according to the present invention, the ethyoxylated ether or ethoxylated ester is omitted in the composition. In this embodiment, the composition comprises an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin;
(2) an emulsifier system comprising an acidic anionic polymer;
(3) an organic or inorganic base to adjust the pH to a value in a range of from about 5.0 to about 5.5.
Preferably, the base is triethanolamine, and the acidic anionic polymer is a carboxypolymethylene polymer as described above.
Yet another embodiment of a method according to the present invention uses an allantoin-containing composition comprising an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin;
(2) an emulsifier system comprising:
(a) cetyl alcohol; and
(b) stearic acid; and
(3) a weak organic base to adjust the pH to a value within a range of from about 5.0 to about 5.8.
Typically, the weak organic base is triethanolamine.
Still another embodiment of a method according to the present invention uses an allantoin-containing composition comprising an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin; and
(2) an emulsifier system comprising:
(a) sodium stearoyl lactylate;
(b) sodium isostearoyl lactylate;
(c) optionally, triethanolamine stearate; and
(d) optionally, at least one nonionic emulsifier selected from the group consisting of a nonionic emulsifier that is an ethoxylated ether or an ethoxylated ester whose carbon chain length ranges from 8 to 22 carbon atoms; and
(3) an acid to adjust the pH to a value within a range of from about 5.0 to about 5.8.
Typically, the acid is citric acid.
Still another embodiment of a method according to the present invention uses an allantoin-containing composition comprising an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin; and
(2) an emulsifier system comprising at least one polyethyleneglycol ether of cetearyl alcohol; and
(3) an acid to adjust the pH of the composition to a value within a range of from about 5.0 to about 5.8.
Typically, the acid is citric acid.
In polyethylene glycol ethers of cetearyl alcohol suitable for use in compositions in this embodiment of a method according to the present invention, the number of ethylene glycol moieties can range from 6 to 40, e.g., R(OCH2CH2)25OH where R=CH3(CH2)16-18. In one preferred composition suitable for use in this embodiment of a method according to the present invention, the emulsifier system comprises both ceteareth-25 and ceteareth-6, i.e., polyethylene glycol ethers of cetearyl alcohol with 25 and 6 ethylene glycol units respectively.
Yet another embodiment of a method according to the present invention uses an allantoin-containing composition comprising an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin; and
(2) an emulsifier system comprising:
(a) a polyethylene glycol ester of stearic acid; and
(b) glyceryl stearate; and
(3) an acid to adjust the pH of the composition to a value within a range of from about 5.0 to about 5.8.
Typically, the number of ethylene glycol moieties in the polyethylene glycol ester of stearic acid is from 25 to 100. Two preferred polyethylene glycol esters of stearic acid for use in compositions for an embodiment of a method according to the present invention are PEG-40 stearate and PEG-100 stearate, with 40 and 100 ethylene glycol moieties respectively. A particularly preferred polyethylene glycol ester of stearic acid is PEG-100 stearate.
Typically, the acid is citric acid.
In yet another alternative embodiment, the allantoin-containing composition comprises an oil-in-water emulsion comprising:
(1) allantoin;
(2) a carbohydrate polymer; and
(3) an emulsifier system comprising:
(a) beeswax; and
(b) an anionic emulsifier that is substantially hydrophilic and is soluble in water.
The pH of the composition is between about 5.0 and about 6.5.
In all of these alternative embodiments, the composition can further comprise additional ingredients if they are not already included.
For example, the composition can further comprise an emollient component. The emollient component can comprise at least one emollient selected from the group consisting of lanolin oil, cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, and cod liver oil.
The composition can further comprise an antioxidant such as butylated hydroxytoluene.
The composition can further comprise a preservative component. The preservative component can comprise at least one preservative selected from the group consisting of methylparaben and propylparaben.
The composition can further comprise a chelating agent. A preferred chelating agent is tetrasodium EDTA.
The composition can further comprise a solvent component. The solvent component can comprise at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of propylene glycol, butylene glycol, and glycerin. Preferably, the solvent component is propylene glycol.
The composition can further comprise a preservative component. The preservative component can comprise at least one preservative selected from the group consisting of methylparaben, propylparaben, and diazolidinyl urea.
The skin condition or disease to be treated can be one of Epidermolysis bullosa, decubitus ulcers, pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers, and milia. An important skin condition or disease that is treated by methods according to the present invention is Epidermolysis bullosa.
Methods according to the present invention can further comprise administering an additional therapeutic agent in a therapeutically effective quantity. The additional therapeutic agent can be selected from the group consisting of steroids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, leukotriene antagonists, and monoclonal antibodies.